" Not only
European Sanskritists, but also exoteric Yogis, fall into the grievous
mistake of supposing that, in the opinion of our sacred writers, a human
being can escape the operation of the law of Karma by adopting a
condition of masterly inactivity, entirely losing sight of the fact that
even a rigid abstinence from physical acts does not produce inactivity
on the higher astral and spiritual planes. Sri Sankara has very
conclusively proved, in his commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita, that such
a supposition is nothing short of a delusion. The great teacher shows
there that forcibly repressing the physical body from working does not
free one from vasana or vritti--the inherent inclination of the mind to
work. There is a tendency, in every department of Nature, for an act to
repeat itself; the Karma acquired in the last preceding birth is always
trying to forge fresh links in the chain, and thereby lead to continued
material existence;--and this tendency can only be counteracted by
unselfishly performing all the duties appertaining to the sphere in
which a person is born; such a course alone can produce chitta suddhi,
(purification of the mind), without which the capacity of perceiving
spiritual truths can never be acquired.
Pages:
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299